


The Dance of the Glacian and Pyreburner

by madlysanecatlady



Series: Gladnis Valentine's Day [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Drunk Iggy, Fluff, Gladnis, M/M, Valentine's Day, let's do some shots, or a likely eos stand-in, you get it by now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 13:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13482507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madlysanecatlady/pseuds/madlysanecatlady
Summary: Gladio is amused to find Ignis getting thoroughly plastered at the king's party to celebrate a holiday.





	1. The Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Valentine's day is coming up. I've come up with a rough stand-in for it. Mostly I just really wanted to write drunk Iggy. The thought makes me laugh.

Ignis _always perfectly composed and proper_ Scientia was a sight to see this evening, Gladio noted amusedly to himself. He watched as Ignis accepted yet another flute of champagne from the harried-looking waitress, his carefully rigid posture slipping slightly as he took a rather large gulp of the bubbly liquid. His tie was loosened just an eight of an inch, the topmost button at his collar undone. Gladio wanted to roll his eyes; Ignis was completely hammered, something painfully obvious to him, but apparently completely lost on everyone else in the large ballroom. 

He waited patiently for his relief to arrive, a few minutes late, likely from needing to weave her way through the throngs of partygoers to arrive with a hurried apology.

‘Not a problem, Lucinda,’ Gladio said airily with a blasé wave of his hand. ‘Really, I'm surprised you're not later, with all the traffic.’

‘Seriously though, Lord Amicitia,’ Lucinda panted, clearly having run here from her car. ‘ _Thank you so much_ for covering for me so I could go to my niece's play. I hate that you had to miss time with your friends. I owe you a big one.’

‘Any time. But I might refuse next time if you don’t just call me Gladiolus,’ Gladio stepped aside to let her take over the position by the door. With a final wave, he unbuttoned the stiff collar of his uniform slightly and weaved his way through the throng of visiting dignitaries towards the table where Ignis was sitting alone. Two new champagne flutes had mysteriously appeared on the table, and Ignis was already accepting a glass of wine from the waitress. Gladio huffed out a sigh and went over, plopping himself into the chair next to Ignis and stealing one of the champagne flutes for himself. 

‘Glad you could _finally_ join us,’ Ignis’ voice and expression were both tight, but Gladio could hear the faint tinge of unsteadiness underneath both. ‘We thought you'd been chained to the door.’

He laughed. ‘Who's _we_ , Iggy? Unless you've befriended a ghost while I was on duty, you're the only one sitting here.’

‘It's a _royal we_ ,’ Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘As in _we are not amused at all this evening_ or _what a royal pain in the ass we are being_.’

‘You're _plastered_ ,’ Gladio snorted, reaching out to snatch up the other flute before Ignis could. 

‘Don't be ridiculous,’ Ignis waived his hand airily in front of him, almost knocking one of the empty glasses off the table in the process but catching himself before he could. ‘I've got my wits about me.’

‘The only way you wouldn't is if you were dead, Iggy,’ Gladio rolled his eyes. ‘You've got enough to outsmart anyone in this room and then some, even drunk out of your mind.’

‘Ridiculous,’ Ignis repeated darkly, draining the wine glass in one big gulp and looking around for the waitress impatiently. 

‘Jeez Iggy, slow down a bit,’ Gladio reached out to pat Ignis on the shoulder. ‘Is everything ok? What are you trying to drown out with free booze, dude? You can tell me anything.’

‘Why aren't I simply allowed to enjoy a night of revelry?’ Ignis huffed indignantly. ‘It's been made abundantly clear that my services are not to be needed this weekend.’

 _There_ it was. Gladio bit down on his desire to laugh, knowing the hurt in his friend's eyes was genuine and _deep_ , if the empty glasses in front of him were anything to go by. ‘Are you feeling underappreciated, Iggy?’

‘ _No_.’ Ignis' answer was defiant, almost petulant. He turned away from him when the waitress returned. ‘Just leave the bottle. Thank you very much.’ He took the bottle of red wine and poured himself a generous glass. 

Gladio rolled his eyes and accepted an empty glass from the waitress, practically tearing the bottle away from Ignis to pour some for himself. He clinked their glasses together with a taunting grin. ‘If that's how you want to play it, let's get bombed.’

Ignis blinked at him. ‘You aren't going to try and stop me? Or reprimand me?’

‘Astrals, Iggy, I'm not _you_ ,’ Gladio laughed. ‘I don't see a damned thing wrong with letting loose at a social function I'm not expected to work at. Really, I think this is long overdue for you. So let's have some fun.’

Ignis shrugged and took another gulp of wine. Gladio could see the offense in his expression and sighed.

‘Iggy, come on. You know I didn't say that to be mean.’

‘I _don't_ know that,’ Ignis hiccupped, having drank that last gulp of wine too fast. ‘I don’t know _anything_ at all anymore, _apparently_.’ He hiccupped again, and Gladio reached over to rub his back. 

‘Alright, who said something mean to you?’ Gladio slung his arm around the back of Ignis’ chair lazily, watching the strategist pour himself more wine with a distinctly haughty expression. He would laugh at petulant, _childish_ Ignis, but Gladio was far too concerned about his friend to entertain the thought. ‘Seriously. Who? I’ll make sure they never talk again.’

‘You’re being ridiculous again, Gladio,’ Ignis rolled his eyes.

Gladio sighed. Ignis would have told him if the person who had hurt his feelings had been anyone but one person. He moved his arm forward to squeeze Ignis’ shoulders tightly. ‘What’d Noct say to you this time?’

‘ _Apparently_ I’m simply _out-of-touch_ with the ways of the world,’ Ignis whirled into an angry tirade. ‘No, I’m not the one who’s been cooking and cleaning and looking after him all these years just making sure he doesn’t drop dead because Shiva _knows_ he can’t look after himself even though his life truly does depend on it! No, I’m just some… some… fuddy duddy.’

Gladio snorted before he could catch himself. Seeing the words _fuddy duddy_ coming out of Ignis’ dignified mouth was simply unreal. ‘Sorry, I’m not laughing at you, well, kinda, you’re an adorable drunk, you know that?’

Gladio wanted to kick himself at catching that coming out of his mouth. He probably should have thought to eat something before pounding back the wine in match of Ignis’ pace. He was headed down a dangerous path, he warned himself, letting his guard down and letting alcohol dull his inhibitions around Ignis. He wasn’t even past comfortably buzzed yet and he was already dropping words like _adorable_.

‘Laugh it up, Shield Boy,’ Ignis grumbled into his glass. And with that, Gladio completely forgot such mundane things as caution and flagged down the waitress to request something a bit stronger than wine, eager to see if he could get Ignis out of his self-pity phase and into the joking, _fun_ Ignis he was catching glimpses of between self-recriminations.

‘Iggy, look at me,’ Gladio sighed, watching the waitress pile some tequila shots onto her tray for them with a wry smile. He turned to see Ignis staring at him, frown gone and replaced with an oddly blank expression. ‘Fuck whatever Noct said to you. The kid’s a brat and has no idea what the hell he’s talking about. You can’t be out of touch with anything, dude. You know _everything_. _And_ , think of it this way… How much time off have you ever gotten to just _unwind_? Forget about Noct for a minute. He can take care of himself for a night. C’mon Iggy, just sit with me and I promise we’ll have a good time. You can yell at me in the morning if you don’t, ok?’

‘Deal,’ Ignis acquiesced, eyeing the tray of tequila approaching them with interest. ‘Just promise me you won’t let me do anything stupid? Please? I don’t want to regret my one night off.’

Gladio smiled softly, barely looking away from his friend to thank the waitress for their drinks. ‘Deal,’ Gladio said softly, holding up a shot glass and waiting for Ignis to grab one of his own so they could clink them together. ‘To the funnest night of your life, Iggy.’

It was a testament to how drunk Ignis already was that he allowed that poor grammar to slide, seeming to shrug to himself before knocking back the shot. He grimaced. ‘Goodness. This is _horrendous_.’ Completely contrary to his words, he picked up another and downed it as well, salt and chasers forgotten on the table.

Gladio snorted, feeling the burn of tequila shoot up his nose. ‘Oh shit, _ow_.’ He clutched his nose, blinking hard as the stinging subsided. ‘Shit, Iggy, don’t make me laugh like that while I’m drinking.’

‘Suck it up, buttercup,’ Ignis said simply, leaning back in his chair and crossing one leg over the other. He looked at Gladio expectantly. ‘Are you going to catch up or not?’

Gladio took another shot and grinned. ‘I’ll probably be more hammered than you in no time. I haven’t eaten much today.’

‘I’m sure they’ll be passing around those… ord… finger foods,’ Ignis appeared to have given up on more complex pronunciations for the evening. ‘You’ll be fine. You can handle anything.’

‘Well that’s high praise,’ Gladio chuckled, knocking back another shot. ‘I thought you had higher standards than that, Iggy.’

‘Gladio, you _are_ the standard,’ Ignis rolled his eyes, as though that should have been painfully obvious. ‘Why do you think it is _your_ duty to train the prince while I am simply left to be a glorified nanny?’

‘Jeez Iggy, what the hell crawled up your ass today? You’re being kind of a sassy bitch, but only to _yourself_.’

‘I will have you know that absolutely _nothing_ has crawled into my _anything_ today, thank you very much,’ Ignis looked affronted.

‘So you’re not so far gone as to not defend yourself yet, that’s good,’ Gladio laughed at Ignis’ expression. ‘C’mon, spill. What’d Noct say to you that’s got your panties all up in a twist? I’ll give him so much shit for it he’ll never think about opening his mouth around you for anything less than an adoring _thank you_. With all you do for him, I can’t stand it when the little shit doesn’t treat you right.’

‘Gladio,’ Ignis’ expressions changed very abruptly when he was drunk, Gladio noticed. One moment he had still been annoyed, and the next he looked incredibly concerned. ‘You shouldn’t ever refer to the prince as a _little shit_. That isn’t befitting of either of our roles.’

Gladio sighed. Even hammered Ignis couldn’t shrug off his sense of loyal duty to his charge. Gladio would be impressed by that level of self-control if he weren’t so damned _annoyed_. If Ignis would just put aside his weird need to shield Noctis from the consequences of his own actions, he could tell Gladio what he had said that hurt him so much so Gladio could see about trying to make it better.

Ignis shook his head. ‘Sorry. We are _off-duty_. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. Don’t let me chas-chastise you.’

‘Oh Iggy,’ Gladio smiled down at his friend, who was, frankly, a bit of a mess, at least to his trained eye. Trained to all things Ignis, at least. ‘Never apologise for being so… so very _you_. I know _I’ll_ never fault you for it. I’d be worried if you _didn’t_ rightfully chastise me.’

Ignis’ lips twitched upwards. ‘I’ll drink to that.’

‘Ok, new plan,’ Gladio took the shot away from his friend. ‘We’re not going to drink anymore until you tell me what’s wrong and you feel better, because otherwise this won’t be any fun for either of us. It’ll probably just end in drunken tears. And you crying’ll probably set me off.’

Ignis huffed, looking annoyed at being cut off. ‘It’s not so much what he said, but more… how he said it.’

‘Tell me everything, Iggy,’ Gladio sighed.

‘Well, it started when his majesty informed me that my services would not be required this evening or for the weekend, at his highness’ request,’ Iggy began. ‘I requested more information, but his majesty merely told me to enjoy the party.’

‘So he gave you a day off and you’re trying to drown out your sorrow over that?’ Gladio laughed in spite of himself. ‘Geez, Iggy, only you would _ever_ think of a weekend off as an insult.’

‘Well, naturally I followed up with Noct,’ Ignis said haughtily, clearly displeased at Gladio’s not taking his upset seriously. ‘And he told me he was more than capable of handling himself for a while and that I should use this party for… what had he said? _Introspection_. He said I had some things that needed evaluating, and things that needed saying to people, and that I was completely out of touch for not realising that yet. I have no idea what he meant by that, but I can’t imagine it’s by any means a good thing. And I haven’t seen him at all this evening to ask.’

‘Well it sounds to me like he thinks you need to tell someone something important,’ Gladio shrugged. ‘Any idea what or who that might be? Maybe that’s what you’re supposed to be introspecting about. Is introspecting even a word?’

‘A verb,’ Ignis nodded. He sighed heavily. ‘I do not. It would have been helpful had he told me what he was talking about.’

‘I’m sure you’ll figure it out, Iggy,’ Gladio shrugged. ‘You’re really smart. But… why did that upset you so much? Isn’t Noct just giving you some time off? Isn’t that a good thing? You could probably use it, you crazy workaholic.’

‘Time off for other staff is something, certainly, but for me the implication is that I am no longer needed,’ Ignis looked so miserable at that statement that Gladio wanted to pull him into a bone-crushing hug and never let go. Ignis sighed. ‘I know it sounds completely ridiculous.’

‘Naw, Iggy,’ Gladio squeezed his shoulders. ‘Surprising, maybe. I thought you had way more confidence in yourself than that. You know Noct will never not need you, right? You’re basically the kid’s mother at this point. The fact that he’s giving you time off at all is amazing. But come on Iggy, don’t worry. You’re always going to be needed around here. What would any of us do without you?’

‘That’s… heartening,’ Ignis said after a beat. He sighed. ‘I’m sorry I made you listen to my pointless self-recriminia-recriminations.’ He hiccupped.

Gladio snorted. ‘Seriously, you’re an adorable drunk. Well, when you’re not beating yourself up over shit that really shouldn’t upset you. Maybe Noct gave you the day off because he’s worried about how much you work. Did you ever think about that?’

‘I doubt such a thing had even crossed his highness’ mind,’ Ignis said after a beat of surprised silence. ‘It’s been this way for as long as he can remember, at least.’

‘And it’s about damned time he gets worried,’ Gladio nodded. ‘Come on, Iggy. Noct adores you. I’m not kidding when I say you’re basically his mom. Let him do something nice for you without trying to twist it into some sort of self-deprecating drunken whirlwind. Ok?’

Ignis took a deep breath before nodding, a smile _finally_ settling on his lips. ‘Let’s have that fun you wanted.’

‘That’s my Iggy,’ Gladio laughed, sliding over two of the remaining four shots. ‘Let’s get this party started.’

They drank for a bit, exchanging funny or shocking stories and gossip they had heard around the Citadel that week, until Gladio could see Ignis’ eyes getting decidedly glassy.

‘Ok, what do you say we take a break?’ he suggested, standing up and stretching. ‘Let’s take a walk outside in the gardens. Apparently they had it decorated for tonight.’

‘I know, I helped oversee it,’ Ignis got shakily to his feet, swaying slightly in place until Gladio reached out to steady him with a hand in the centre of his back.

‘You good?’

Ignis nodded. ‘Sorry. I’m not used to this level of… inib – _drunkenness_.’

Gladio laughed, steering Ignis towards the large double glass doors leading out of the ballroom and out into the garden. Faerie lights had been strung up along the topiaries, lighting up the stonework paths with an ethereal golden glow. It was _beautiful_. Gladio imagined most of that was due to Ignis’ stickling attention to detail. He looked beside him, smiling when he saw a warm smile on Ignis’ face as he looked up and admired the décor.

‘It’s exactly as I thought it would look,’ Ignis said quietly, reaching up as though hoping to touch the lights that danced far out of reach. ‘His majesty suggested a romantic ambiance for the décor considering the ball tonight is in honour of the dance of the Glacian and Pyreburner. I tried my best.’

‘And just like everything you do, you obviously succeeded and then some,’ Gladio chuckled. It seemed the fresh air was doing Ignis some good, who appeared steadier on his feet, and much more able to form coherent thoughts. ‘Seriously, dude, how is that at all fair? You make the rest of us feel stupid for celebrating our achievements since you could probably do them in your sleep.’

‘You don’t need to keep trying to build up my confidence, Gladio,’ Ignis frowned. ‘I’m fine.’

‘I’m not just saying stuff to make you feel better, dude,’ Gladio shrugged. ‘I’m just saying stuff that’s true. Shiva’s tits, Ignis, you _know_ you’re incredible right?’

Ignis caught himself leaning forward reflexively at the soft expression on Gladio’s face. He froze. Just what did he think he was doing? Had he been hoping to hug his friend? That surely wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, they had hugged a few times before, usually when one of them had been upset. But this time felt different, more _intimate_. _Had he just tried to…?_

Gladio froze as Ignis leaned towards him slightly, wondering, as he often did, just what was going on in that brilliant brain of his. He hadn’t looked like he was reaching out for a hug, and usually Ignis _didn’t_ initiate any sort of physical contact, being a reserved and pretty shy person generally. Gladio was confused, to say the least.

‘Sorry, I think I left the world for a moment,’ Ignis shook his head as if to clear it. ‘Had you said something?’

‘No,’ Gladio eyed the way Ignis’ brow furrowed, either in confusion or frustration, Gladio couldn’t quite tell which, and reached out to try and smooth it with his thumb. ‘You ok? You’re still looking a little upset.’

Ignis heaved a sigh. ‘I hadn’t wanted to tell anyone but… I can trust you, right Gladio?’

‘With anything, Iggy,’ Gladio said quickly. ‘Shield’s honour. _And_ best friend’s honour. Two honours for the price of one.’

Ignis’ lips twitched upwards briefly before settling back into a frown. He took in a deep breath, steeling himself, knowing that without the buzzing of alcohol in his veins, clouding his inhibitions, he never would have opened up, not even to Gladio, about his current preoccupying worry. He sighed. ‘I’m not worried that Noct doesn’t need me anyone – Astrals _know_ he can’t look after himself… I’m worried… he won’t want _me_ looking after him anymore.’

‘Six, Iggy, I’ve never known you to be stupid, but that’s the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,’ Gladio burst out. ‘Noct is kinda useless without you, and he _knows_ it. And I told you already, the kid adores you, mother hen. Don’t worry.’

Ignis sighed. ‘Let me finish, and you may change your mind.’ He swallowed, wondering if he _really_ wanted to go through with this. There was no going back afterwards. He couldn’t unsay words once they were said, yet before he even knew it, he was babbling. ‘I think Noct might have realised, er, something about me that might make him uncomfortable, not that it would ever affect my duties or my treatment of him, but I can understand he may not _like_ it.’

‘Astrals Iggy, you’re talking like you killed a guy,’ Gladio chuckled. ‘Wait, you didn’t did you? I’m _joking_ ,’ he added quickly, eyeing the hurt in Ignis’ expression. ‘I’m trying to make this easier for you. I’m not going to judge you, Iggy, no matter what you tell me. Besides, we both know that what you think is the end of the world is probably just fine by anyone else’s standards.’

Ignis took in a deep breath. ‘I’m gay,’ he blurted before he could chicken out again. ‘I’m afraid Noct knows and sees me differently because of it.’

Gladio blinked, unsure how best to react to Ignis’ rather dramatic confession of something that had been painfully obvious to him for some time now. This had obviously been difficult for Ignis to come to terms with, and he didn’t want to add insult to injury by telling the poor guy he had been fooling precisely _no one_ into thinking otherwise. He realised he had been silent for far too long when tears started welling up in those pretty green eyes and Gladio mentally cursed himself out for not being quick witted and verbally gifted like Ignis. He smiled. ‘Igs, am I the first person you’ve told?’

Ignis nodded slowly, eyeing him up with watery eyes, gauging his expression. ‘Other than my mother and father, shortly before my father sent me here.’

Gladio could hear the pain under Ignis’ carefully even voice and frowned. He had known Ignis had moved to Insomnia on his own far younger than he should have been allowed to, but he always assumed it had been with his parents’ support while he worked for the king and Noctis. It seemed he had been under the wrong assumption there. ‘Iggy, did your parents throw you out?’

‘My father did,’ Ignis nodded, looking at the path under his feet now. ‘My mother had been willing to listen, to hear me out, remarkable really, given some of the _firmer_ beliefs in Tenebrae… But my father was having _none_ of that.’

‘Oh Igs,’ Gladio reached out and pulled him into a hug, trying to squeeze the hurt right out of him. ‘Your dad’s a grade-A dick for one, and two, a complete moron.’

‘My father is about as intelligent as I am,’ Ignis mumbled, face buried in Gladio’s shoulder.

‘Not a chance in hell,’ Gladio shook his head. Gladio pushed Ignis back a little, forcing him to look up at him. ‘Igs, the man threw away the most intelligent, kind, loving, over-achieving, _perfect_ person I’ve ever known, probably that the world will _ever_ know on top of that. You can’t do that and still be considered anything above complete fucking moron status.’

Gladio watched Ignis stare at him for a minute before is eyes flicked down to Gladio’s lips. Gladio felt a jolt at the motion, along with the way Ignis bit his bottom lip before throwing himself back into a hug.

‘Iggy, why’re you worried about Noct? He’d _never_ care about something like that,’ Gladio gave his best friend another squeeze. ‘Even if you went and got a crush on him, he’d probably take that in stride. But I might have to get your head checked out if you did. _No one_ should have a crush on someone _that_ hopelessly helpless.’

Ignis choked out a laugh at that. He pulled away, smiling at his friend. ‘Neither of you will have to worry about that. Noct is _not_ my type.’

‘Oh yeah? So who is?’ Gladio was genuinely interested, although he kept his selfish reasons for that interest to himself.

Ignis was silent, staring at Gladio’s lips again, worrying his own bottom lip between his own.  His cheeks were pink and Gladio was starting to think he was reading the signs right after all. Spurred on by the wine and tequila coursing through him, Gladio reached out, placing a hand under Ignis’ chin to pull him into a tender kiss.

He heard Ignis let out a strangled gasp and Gladio half expected to be shoved away, having dreadfully misinterpreted the signals, but not a moment later, Ignis leaned into him, hands going up to clutch at Gladio’s unbuttoned collar, pulling him in closer. Gladio wanted to jump for joy at that, but instead pulled away to look down at Ignis with a smile. ‘I think I got the answer to my own question.’

Ignis stared up at him, his expression blank. Gladio felt his smile falter as the seconds ticked by with no change to that blank look. He sighed. ‘Igs, look, I’m sorry I –’

Ignis moved abruptly, fingers aiming to settle over Gladio’s lips, but missing spectacularly on their first try, almost poking Gladio in the eye before _finally_ reaching their mark. ‘Ssh, shut it, Gladio. I have _lots_ to say but… you broke my brain. I can’t do words.’

Ignis was just so cute when he was struggling to find words. Gladio couldn’t help himself, he leaned down and kissed him again, smiling when Ignis reacted just as well the second time, this time his arms flying up and around his neck, tugging him down sharply, cricking his neck uncomfortably, but Gladio was far from caring. Ignis’ mouth opened up for him, allowing Gladio to dip in for a taste. He tasted like wine and champagne and tequila and _Ignis_. A mere flick of Ignis’ tongue sent a jolt travelling southward between them and they pulled away, breathing heavily.

‘Shit, Iggy –’

‘I told you to shh,’ Ignis cut him off. ‘I think my brain rebooted. I just… Gladio, I think I’ve been in love with you for almost as long as I’ve known you. This,’ he gestured between them, ‘is a dream come true, but I can’t allow it to continue; you’re drunk, I’m drunk, it will affect our work or worse, our friendship if you –’

‘Iggy,’ it was Gladio’s turn to cut him off. ‘ _Gods_ , what do you think I am? Some guy who just kisses his best friend and forgets about it?’ He reached out to cup Ignis’ cheek, smiling when he felt him lean into the touch. ‘Iggy, you’re my favourite person in the world. I’d _never_ do anything to scare you away, or upset you, or anything. I _love_ you.’

He was cut off from all further talk by Ignis’ lips crushing against his own. Gladio pulled him closer, completely forgetting everything else in the world. The only thing that mattered was Ignis’ lips moving against his own. That was until a small cough from behind him scared Ignis straight out of his arms.

Noctis was grinning, looking very pleased with himself. ‘Now I see why you’re always giving me advice, Specs. It feels _so good_ when someone takes it.’

Ignis looked confused for a moment before realisation dawned across his face. ‘ _Oh_. Yes, that makes sense now.’

Gladio finally understood and snorted. ‘Next time, kid, actually just say what you mean. You were freaking Iggy the fuck out.’

Noctis frowned. ‘What do you mean? I was like super clear. You needed to have a serious chat with someone special. Obviously you did, since you’re out here making out.’

‘He, uh, yeah, had no idea what you were talking about,’ Gladio laughed. ‘But you know what, we figured it out just fine.’

‘Way to ruin my high there, dude,’ Noctis rolled his eyes. ‘But whatever, I’m happy for you guys. Now get out of here. This party’s winding down and you’re off the clock anyways. You don’t need to waste your time schmoozing these hoity toity snobs.’

‘Noct, you’d do well to watch your tongue,’ Ignis looked stern, ever the mother hen. ‘Your status as prince does not protect you from offending people.’

Noctis snorted. ‘Yeah, thanks _mom_. It’s empty out here, and you’re not going to tell on me.’

‘No, but I might if you don’t get back in there and do some _schmoozing_ of your own,’ Ignis rolled his eyes.

Noctis’ expression went lax for a moment before he burst into laughter. ‘Oh my _gods_ , Iggy! You’re _drunk_! This is amazing! I need to find Prompto, he’s gotta get a picture of this.’

‘Yeah, and it’ll be the last thing either of you do,’ Gladio looked sternly over at the kid he was pledged to protect with his life, the same kid who often made him question just why he might want to ever do that.

‘Aw, that’s so cute,’ Noctis dodged out of the way of Gladio’s soft punch. ‘OK, ok, I’ll lay off and go back inside. But really, I’m happy for you guys. And it’s about friggin’ time, too, mom and step-dad.’

They watched him return to the ballroom for a moment before Gladio looked to Ignis. ‘So… uh, do you want to do as we’re told and get out of here, or… I don’t want to uh, push it or…’

‘Gladio, I’d follow you anywhere,’ Ignis reached out to lace their fingers together. He smiled. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Gladio smiled back and allowed himself to be led out of the courtyard, perfectly echoing Ignis’ sentiment. He knew he would follow this man anywhere. And in this moment, he knew he was going to like where they were heading.


	2. Bonus! The Hangover

Ignis’ head was pounding. He felt as though a stampede of chocobos had run over him, leaving him half-dead and falling apart in his bed. It took him a moment, but he realized there was a rather warm, large mass pressed up against his back, and what felt like a heavy arm slung over his hip. He froze, cracking one eye open and instantly regretting that decision when the light of the morning assailed him.

 _Shit_. That _was_ Gladio’s arm. Gladio’s arm was slung low over Ignis’ very naked hip. _Well_ , he’d certainly done it now. He pressed his eyes closed, trying to dull the aching, deafening _pounding_ in his brain, trying to will it into action to try and figure out how they could move past what was obviously going to be a drunken mistake for Gladio. He simply hoped it wouldn’t completely ruin their friendship.

He felt Gladio shifting and felt his brain trying to kick into panic mode to find some way of lessening the damage he’d allowed to be done to their friendship in his drunken moment of weakness, but went very still as the arm squeezed him, hand moving up the planes of his stomach to splay out at the centre of his chest, pulling him in closer.

‘Morning, Iggy. How’re you feeling?’ Gladio’s lips were very close to Ignis’ ear as the quiet whisper rolled out, causing a shiver to run down his spine.

‘Like I’ve been run over,’ Ignis was beginning to relax as more of the previous night’s events returned to him, letting him know that Gladio may not be regretting their current situation.

‘Not surprised,’ Gladio laughed. His arm disappeared from around Ignis, the loss of his presence immediately felt as he left the bed. Ignis heard the sound of his curtains being drawn. ‘That should be better for you to open your eyes now. Want me to get you some water? Maybe something for the headache?’

‘Mm, that would be appreciated,’ Ignis cracked his eye open again, the other following when it was deemed safely dark enough to not be actively murdered by sunlight. He smiled at Gladio and reached his hand out beckoning him over. ‘But first,’ he pulled Gladio down so he could kiss him, humming contentedly as Gladio’s hand ran up his cheek and into his hair. He pulled back and rubbed Ignis’ temple gently.

‘Think you’re up for some breakfast?’

Ignis sat up carefully, swooning a little bit until his body got used to his upright position. He nodded. ‘After a glass of water I think some food might help make me feel a little less like utter _garbage_.’

Gladio smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. ‘Get dressed. I know the perfect breakfast for a hangover. Oh, and Iggy?’

‘Mhm?’

Gladio smiled, no shortage of love in his eyes as he looked down at him. ‘Happy Glacian-Pyreburner Day.’


End file.
